


Seeking Greatness

by memoryweaver



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abuse, Cuckolding, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Impregnation, Infertility, Manipulation, Rape/Non-con Elements, Titan Shifters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 21:03:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8505283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memoryweaver/pseuds/memoryweaver
Summary: Grisha Yeager is in need of a son to carry on the his work and to save the world. As a titan shifter his sterility prevents him from achieving such goals. To seek glory he must enlist the help a certain Survey Corps Commander.





	

The two men walked side by side, the taller figure staring ahead, taking apathetic note of his surroundings while the shorter one shuffled the watch back into his pocket. They met as they usually did, inconsistently due to their sporadic schedules. Expeditions required a great deal of preparation, though these days it seemed that younger rising stars within the Corps were attempting to tread on the Commander’s toes. The work of a doctor was never easy to predict, though he had to allow himself recreational time, much to Carla’s insistence. She met with women friends that evening and had encouraged Grisha to meet up with perhaps the only man he could consider a friend. 

“You seem to be fixated by your watch,” Keith observed, as stoic as usual. He had learned many years ago that he was not exactly enjoyable company. Even before the trials and toils of being Commander had caused his perspective and personality to wither, perishing surely and steadily with each great burden fate forced upon him, Keith had been fully aware that people did not relish his companionship. “Do not let me keep you from anything.” Or anyone. 

“Carla,” was the younger man’s response as he patted his pocket and looked briefly to his friend. Keith only nodded for he had expected that would be the case. A new young wife and one as beautiful and kind-hearted as Carla at that. It was little wonder why Grisha was anxious to return to her. “We only tend to spent time apart when we are at work.” 

“As newlyweds tend to do,” Keith observed. He did not wish for explicit details, both for the sake of keeping such matters private as well as the fact that he envied the other man immensely. These days he was able to see how foolish he had been to think that someone like Carla would even consider relations with a man like him. What did he have to offer her? Aside from fading looks, a face ravaged by the strain of his responsibilities along with inevitable ageing, he was hardly the type the majority of women wanted as their husband. While Grisha was mysterious, and part of Keith suspected that he knew much more than Carla when it came to her husband’s recent past, he offered his young wife with the figure of a heroic and honourable husband. He had crafted a favourable figure for himself within the community following his saving of those blighted by sickness. The new Dr and Mrs Yeager were beloved and respectable. There was little doubt surrounding why Carla would revel in her new marital title. 

A hum of acknowledgement passed Grisha’s lips as they passed through to a busier stretch of the street. Small groups of men, and the occasional group of women, lined the street drinking or chatting, some sober the others already quite rowdy. 

“Evening Doctor.” 

“Doctor Yeager!” 

“Have a good evening!” 

“Send my regards to Mrs Yeager.” 

Pleasantries were directed to Grisha from either side, though there were plenty more waves and smiles, to which Grisha responded to with retorts of “good evening”, “same to yourself”, along with numerous nods of acknowledgement. Not a single message of good will or even a simple nod of the head was afforded in Keith’s direction. They did not believe he saved people like Grisha did. He was a Commander, which resonated with the majority as an important position and a respectable one at that, if of course his work reaped promising results. Instead he was unpopular, deemed the inadequate leader of the most inadequate branch of the military. His subordinates would have been regarded with greater respect, he was sure of it. They were talented, but they were not Commander. Not a single person understood the burden upon his shoulders. 

A firm pat on the back stirred Keith from his thoughts and he turned to see Grisha smiling at him, sure and determined. “They do not know you like I do. They cannot understand.” 

“You know how they view me. There is truth behind each extreme regard.” 

The doctor shook his head and the smile remained. They had held this conversations a number of times before and while Keith was more confident than he was before that he was special, that his work did matter, times when he did not receive proper recognition gnawed at his insecurities. 

“Keith, the masses are ignorant. Carla is ignorant. Even I am ignorant. All those around us are shrouded in the safety that comes with lack of knowledge. You have experienced horror and you have conquered it. You continue to do so and I believe that no other man would be able to fight and command as you do.” 

“They see me as a fool. A fraud…” 

“No!” Grisha grasped at both of Keith’s shoulders and gave the larger man a light nudge as if that would cause his anxieties to disintegrate. “You are too humble, Keith. Your abilities are beyond the understanding of many. I told you so soon after our first meeting that you are special and the years between have only strengthened that belief. I am absolutely certain.” He pursed his lips and tapped his foot against the cobbled ground as he considered the best words to soothe his friend’s lack of confidence. “I see that you are special. Carla sees that you are special.”  
Keith’s expression softened and he averted his eyes. How could he know that his friend was speaking the truth when it came to Carla’s assessment of his character and abilities? It would be childish to presume that Carla did not share her husband’s sentiment just because she had chosen to form a life with another man. It did not mean that she did not consider Keith to be a friend, perhaps a dear one at that. Love and admiration could still be apparent outside of the bonds of matrimony. Carla evidently believed her husband to be special, though this did not exclude Keith from being thought of in a similar sense. 

“I have always respected her judgement.” Even when she had chosen another man Keith had respected that. Even when it had shredded his heart for now he had received confirmation that she would never think of him as anything more than a friend, Keith watched without complaint as she began the life he craved she would have chosen to share with him with another. 

“It makes her happy when she thinks of you,” Grisha continued. He always spoke in an enthusiastic tone when the topic of his wife was on his lips. The glimmer in his eyes was full of adoration for his wife, as though he was willing to take on the entire world to see that everyone and everything was up to her satisfaction. 

“She is a special woman. I am glad that she is happy.” Did that make him happy? It was difficult to say. Without her, especially when he was so very close to the duo who he considered friends but who were also living out the life he had yearned for, he was unsure of whether he could ever be happy. It was a joy to see her smile, yet it pained him to know that he rarely, if ever, was the cause for such jubilation. 

“But she is not like you Keith! I am not like you! You alone possess such greatness. It is disheartening to me, though even more to her to see you berate yourself. Embrace what we tell you, believe that you are as great as she and I say you are,” Grisha’s voice cracked and his eyes appeared to be staring into the distance, as though the man before him was not there. He blinked a number of times and was projected back to the present situation before he chuckled dryly. “In any case, don’t try to disagree with my wife. Even if you don’t believe a word I say, at least let her believe she’s right, or else you will be battling something worse than the titans.” 

~~

“What are we to do?” His wife sat upon the bed and grasped hold of her hair at her temples. A number of dark tendrils fell loose from their plait as Carla hid her face in her hands. “Two years, Grisha! Two years of marriage and nothing.” 

He stood at the doorway and watched the scene unfold as it had done on numerous occasions before. The usual routine of comforting her, being pushed away, moving to comfort her again, before she fell into his arms would usually ensue. Though his wife was correct. It had been two years and he no longer felt optimistic. His medical knowledge could not inform him of whether his wife was at fault or if the blame was solely on himself. Even then Grisha was unsure of whether he was defective or not. Carla bled as most women did, though there easily could have been something wrong internally.

He had fathered a child before. Zeke had been conceived easily and was born just prior to the first anniversary of his marriage to Dina. Years ago he had been capable and in truth he found that he was able to muster an erection as easily with Carla as he had been with Dina, yet he often pondered whether he was the sterile one. 

Reproduction was considered to be a very human act and Grisha was well aware that he was not entirely human. He knew nothing of any others who may have possessed such an ability for him to enquire, but the need to father a son to remain loyal to his goal, despite his location and situation being very much different to how it had been over a decade prior. The feeling gnawed at him with each passing day, taunting him perhaps even more so than the matter distressed his wife. 

Carla wanted a child just so she could be a mother. She wished to birth a child, one of her own, to nurture, guide and love. He did not doubt that she would dote on a baby, but Grisha felt that his own needs were much more important. She could love the child for a time, though he would play a greater part in its upbringing than he had done with Zeke. Ideas would be conveyed slowly, fed between all the other conventional fatherly activities. He or she would bring glory and would carry the idea in their hearts between crying over scraped knees and babbling about whatever game they had played that day. 

He would be more careful this time. 

If they were successful. 

“Carla.” 

His wife did not bother to glance in his direction. She only hid her face to conceal her shame. 

“Carla.” 

Again there was little reaction from his wife. Grisha sighed softly and steadily made his way into the room. It was then she looked up with her pretty face blotchy and swollen from her tears. The corner of his mouth twitched into the best reassuring smile he could muster before he placed a hand upon her shoulder.  
“I failed you,” she whispered as her voice broke. He thought back to when they had realised that Dina was expecting. There were no excited coos or immediate ponderings of how their child would look, how he would behave. Instead they began to plan his role in their uprising, for that child was destined for greatness. Dina did not mother Zeke in the manner he expected Carla would to any of their children. 

He moved to sit upon the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. The last time she had pushed him away and had ordered him to leave her be, though on his occasion she was more receptive to his touch. “Don’t. Please don’t say that. You haven’t failed me. You haven’t failed yourself.” 

“It has been two years!” 

“And sometimes it takes that long, or even longer. It does not mean you have failed,” Grisha reiterated. His young wife was not as easy to convince as he had hoped, but then he recalled that all hopes had been dashed, at least in her mind. “As a doctor…” 

“As a doctor you’ve tried everything.” There was truth in the matter. Remedies from medical journals, the methods which other women had sworn had worked for them and promised that she would see results, had all failed. 

“There is always something else,” he gently squeezed her to his side and shushed her sobs. The idea had been on his mind for a while and he had considered when best to implement it, if he had to do so at all. “What if I told you that there might be another way?” 

“We have tried everything!” 

“Carla, there is always another way, I swear to you. Another medicine to try. You know how I scour the books to seek something that will succeed.” There was truth in the statement for Grisha had researched as much as he could with the texts available. Each concoction had failed them so far and now Grisha was left to his own devices. What he planned to do was hardly ethical and he was sure it would upset his wife a great deal if she was to discover the full truth, but what were a few momentary tears worth when she would be happy in the long run? True order and glory would be restored of course and then she would see, beyond her selfish desires for motherhood, that this was all a necessity. 

“More herbs?” She shot him an unconvinced look, one full of brief protest as though she was a child who had been ordered to complete their chores. “The last lot made me sick. You know how awful they are.” 

He held up a finger to her lips and brushed against the rouge softness. “No, no, love. This will not make you sick. You shall sleep. It will make you sleepy. But you will not feel sick. I promise you.” 

“Just sleepy?”

“Yes,” he whispered, removed his finger and then planted a soft kiss against her lips. “I need to go out for a while but everything is already ready.” He held a finger up to her, as if to instruct Carla to stay where she was. The vial was prepared and was waiting beside his medical bag, along with numerous others. Carla knew not to meddle with his things, so there was little probability that she would have known that one was made with the specific intention of luring her to slumber. 

After having retrieved the green bottle, Grisha returned to the bedroom and offered it to his wife. “Here, drink this love.” 

“All of it?” He wondered by her slightly surprised tone whether Carla believed that it would send her into too deep a sleep, though Grisha knew that she would be awake by mid-morning on the morrow. She would have no knowledge of what had occurred during the night.

“All of it.” Grisha stroked the back of his wife’s hair as he watched her swig the entire contents of the bottle and place it with care on the side table. When she looked up at him and smiled, one full of trust and love, he forced himself to return it, though felt impatient that she was not asleep immediately. He was eager, perhaps too eager, to see that the plan was carried out properly. “You should lie down.” Placing his hand on the small of her back, Grisha eased his wife into a lying position and encouraged her to settle beneath the bedclothes. Already he could see her blink slower than usual, her eyelids already growing heavy. 

“I love you,” she whispered. 

“And I you, my sweet wife.” 

He stole another kiss before he came to his feet and began to ready himself for his outing. “I have to visit someone, for work. You will be asleep when I return. I hope your dreams are sweet Carla.” After having pulled on his coat and he had given his wife a gentle smile, Grisha made his way towards the door to leave. 

~~

Grisha stood awkwardly beside the door to Keith’s office as he watched the young soldier gather up the maps and markers in relative silence. His friend was making notes and appeared even wearier than before. The tall blonde figure passed him and closed the door softly, after glancing briefly through pale eyes in Grisha’s direction. 

“Someone is after my job,” Keith muttered, only shifting his gaze from his papers once he was alone to talk as Keith rather than as Commander. “Sit, Grisha.” 

He nodded, moved to the chair, still warm from the previous occupant, to sit the other side of Keith’s desk. At a closer glance Grisha could see that there were more lines upon Keith’s weathered features and he looked extremely tired. As a doctor he knew he ought to have expressed his concern and offered some advice, though this was not the purpose of his visit. He had to persuade him, reiterate previously made points, inform him that he was the greatest. Otherwise Grisha was sure that Keith would never consent to playing his part in the plan.

“He is younger than you and lacks the experience you possess. He could not understand the world as you do.” 

“Erwin is intelligent, more so than anyone else I know. He’s cunning too. He plans to deceive me. While I know this to be true, I do not know how he will attempt it.” 

Grisha sighed and shook his head. “Intelligent on the surface perhaps, but he lacks your wisdom. He is not special like you are Keith. He is replaceable, as each and everyone one of us is. You are not.” 

Keith hummed in response and Grisha could tell that he was not entirely convinced. He lacked the spark in his eyes that he had done years prior when Grisha first expressed that Keith was indeed unique in his abilities. It must have been the strain of the job. 

“Might I enquire for the reason of your visit?” 

It seemed to be that a reason was needed for everything these days. Gone were the times when the two would meet socially and speak as friends. There had to be a distinct reason behind their meeting. “It’s Carla.” 

Keith’s chest appeared to deflate and he abruptly sat erect in his chair. His right hand curled into a fist and his mouth fell slightly agape. The subject of his wife was always a way to get a reaction from the Commander. “Carla. Is she well?” 

“In the body, yes. In her head and heart, she has descended into something very upsetting,” Grisha solemnly stated as he witnessed his friend’s expression soften into extreme concern and an element of regret when he discovered that she was not as bright as she used to be. Keith only wanted Carla to be happy. “She is deeply upset that we do not have a child. It pains her a great deal.” 

Keith nodded and Grisha was sure that he was able to sympathy with the sensation. He had never outwardly expressed his desire to have a child and he certainly did not exert ideal fatherly qualities, but he was sure if Carla had chosen him he would have been quite delighted with the idea of children. 

“I always thought motherhood would become her. I am sorry to hear that nothing has come to be yet. I am sorry to hear that she is sad.” 

“I desire a child myself but women’s sensibilities are not as strong as those of men. At times she is distraught and inconsolable,” Grisha informed him. He took a pause and trained a look of lack of confidence upon his features. “I fear that it is I who is at fault. She functions perfectly.” 

An abrupt cough left Keith’s lips and he shifted in his chair. As a doctor he had dealt with all sorts of issues concerning feminine health but he was sure that Keith remained as ignorant as most other men on the matter. His cheeks flushed slightly and Grisha could tell that he was embarrassed. What man wouldn’t be?

“I… I am quite sorry to hear that. That you seem to be the one…” Keith shook his head and waved a dismissive hand. Articulating his thoughts seemed to be difficult, if not impossible. 

“There is little that can be done about me. I keep thinking that had Carla married another she might have been a mother by now. I feel guilty. I wonder, constantly, if there is some way she can have the child she yearns for.” 

Grisha paused again and allowed the silence to stretch out between them. Keith appeared too uncomfortable to say anything, whereas Grisha wished to create the impression that he was pondering what they could possibly do. He took a sharp intake of breath and fixed his eyes on his friend’s. “Keith… would you?”

“What even is this?” His reaction was sharp and he appraised his friend as though he had lost his mind. 

“A request.” 

“I know what it is. Just, what is this Grisha? I know what you are asking me to do. I know what you are suggesting and it is…” 

“Carla will never know.” 

Keith scoffed and waved his had in a dismissive fashion once more. He seemed torn between allowing his voice to rise in volume or to keep it completely hushed. Grisha did not blame him either way. It was not every day that a man was asked to assist in the possible impregnation of a friend’s wife, the woman who he had loved for many years. 

“How do you propose that she will not discover the truth? We can hardly go behind her back.” 

“I gave her something to help her sleep. She will not wake until around mid-morning tomorrow.” 

“You fucking fool,” Keith gritted his teeth and came to stand. He held both his hands flat upon the table, though it was clear to Grisha that he was resisting the urge to swing at his friend. “To force myself upon a woman, a woman you know I care deeply about, one who is married to you of all people, and one who would not offer her consent to me… Think what you are suggesting I do.” 

“I am asking you to make her happy.” 

“Think of her disgust! She would hate me for this! I would hate myself!”

“I am asking you to make her happy.” 

“Happy? Do you think that she will be happy knowing that her husband requested that I, an old man she doesn’t want, force myself upon her, especially while she is sleeping, to attempt to put a child in her?” 

Grisha sighed and gave a shake of his head. He had not expected Keith to be enthused about the idea, but he did know despite every change to his person, his own lack of confidence and whatever the rest of the world thought about him, that he did wish to see that Carla was safe and content. As her husband he was certain that she would not be so without a child. 

“A child would bring her the ultimate happiness. She will not be happy without this, believe me. She will become a shadow of herself, retreating into silence and shrouded frowns, never to give her sweet smile again. She will feel inadequate, hated, useless. She will not see how special she is,” Grisha came to his feet and cocked an eyebrow. There was a hint in Keith’s expression that he had begun to understand the sentiments he projected, for he suffered with them himself on a daily basis. “Keith, I could have ventured to the Underground to find a male who resembled myself greater than you do to see that the task is done. I would have paid him and paid him well to see that everything was completed. But I chose you. The reason? I would trust no other man with such a task and it is a privilege for me to request this of you. You are special, Keith, and it is my hope that the child you would place within my wife would inherit some of the greatness within you.” 

The look was back upon Keith’s face, one of disbelief, of wonder. Grisha had struck a chord and had caused lost sentiments of importance to emerge from the cracks of believe in inadequacy within the other man. 

“I will not force myself upon her.” 

“I ask that you do the deed into a vial. I will take care of the rest.” 

~~

The curtains had been drawn in the living quarters beside his office and he was thankful that his soldiers seemed to appreciate that the Commander required relative silence. His window overlooked a courtyard where only the most senior of his officers tended to pass through. Considering the time of day Keith presumed that they were having their evening meal. He rarely tended to join them. His absence would not be noted. 

He stood in front of the bedside table, his manhood in his right hand while the vial rested before him. Grisha sat outside in his office, awaiting his friend’s exit with the desired vessel in hand. He had been waiting for nearly half an hour and Keith presumed that he was growing impatient. What would Grisha think of him, a gifted person, who had stood with his cock out and staring at the same blank space of wall since he had entered the room? 

“This will take longer than expected,” Keith exclaimed, his cheeks burning from the shame of it all. He did not wish for Grisha to gather the impression that he was incapable or that he had changed his mind. 

There was a number of seconds pause before Grisha spoke up. “Just think of her. Think of my wife.” 

Keith clamped his teeth down upon his top lip and new that while he had thought of Carla many times before in the early hours of the morning when insomnia was plaguing him, it was difficult to do so under pressure, especially when her husband was the other side of the door. 

“Think of her smile, her laugh. How did you first meet her? At the tavern? The low cut of the dresses she used to wear. The blouses that used to reveal a little too much when she reached to collect the empty flagons…” 

Keith could feel the slight twitch in his member. The memories were vivid and he could almost see her beside him. The creamy smoothness of her skin, the pink nub that was revealed when she leaned forward. 

“Her scent, fresh, sweet… How she would tease you. Keith-san. You were always Keith-san to her. Keith, she valued and loved you as the special person you are. She adores you and looks at you with everlasting fondness.” 

His cock had grown hard in his hand and Keith closed his eyes, allowing himself to be consumed with the thought of Carla. 

“Your child growing within her. Her body swelling with your seed. Your greatness within her…” 

“Her smiles eternally the cause of the love you showed her… her adoration… she would worship you…” 

“She will love that part of you until the end of time… What you have done for her… A blessing…” 

“She loves you…” 

Keith cried out through gritted teeth, near roaring as he felt the fire ascend from within him. He released his load, filling the vial with his seed as the beads of sweat trailed down his temples and cheeks. After pulling up his trousers, Keith slowly made his way to the door and opened it, to find that Grisha had come to stand at the other side. He presented the vial to Grisha who took it into his hands as though it was crafted from the most precious of gems. 

Grisha reached to pat his friend upon the shoulder and gave him a gentle smile, full of reverence and gratitude. “Thank you, my friend.” 

~~

The boy was now a sturdy three months of age. Eren was a fussy child though his mother rarely complained at the amount of times she had to attend to him, or increasingly as of late, find a way to amuse him. His wife had spent each day since the discovery of her pregnancy in utter jubilation which had only increased since Eren was born. Grisha watched as she sat upon the bed with the baby leant against his mother’s front. She waved her hair in front of his face, with the ends tickling the end of his nose, much to the joy of both mother and child. Grisha sat and observed. Eren resembled his mother in every possible way. Both parents agreed on the fact. While the boy was Keith’s biological child, Grisha was set on raising the boy so he would inherit the spirit of the man who he would grow up believing was his father. He could mould the boy, much better than he had attempted to shape Zeke. Eren would be a model person, loyal to his parents when Zeke had not been. 

Eren was his son and he was destined for great things.


End file.
